I have fallen in love with mussels back in December. And that`s not to be confused with these bad boys:

Last night, I made mussels with Shannon and Nikki for the first time EVER. None of us had made these bad boys before so, we took on the Come Dine With Me challenge. Best. Idea. Ever. Honestly, they are nowhere near as hard to make as they look.

INGREDIENTS
2 packages of 907g Live Mussels (we really only needed one)
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
2 Sweet Onions
4 Cloves of Garlic (WARNING: We love A LOT of garlic)
16 oz can of Diced Tomatoes
1 cup of White Wine (we used Yellow Tail Semillon Sauvignon Blanc)
1 Sour Dough Baguette
Olive Oil
Fresh Parsley

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat your pot on the stove on medium heat with a splash of Olive Oil.
2. Cut your bell peppers and onions in strips and add to the pot.
3. Dice up your garlic and add it to the pot. Be warned, your hands will smell like garlic until the next morning (Sorry Nikki!) And make sure your garlic doesn`t brown because this will make it taste bitter.
4. Next, add the wine and diced tomatoes.
5. The Mussels. Put your mussels in a colander in the sink. Wash them down with cold water to aggravate them. I also like to yell at them to make them angry. Then observe them one by one to make sure that they aren`t open or cracked by transferring them into another bowl. If they are cracked this means they are dead so throw that guy in the garbage. If the shell is just open do a “tap test.“ Put your mussel on the counter and hit the top of it with a spoon, if it closes (which is so fun to watch!) you can add it to the good bowl. Out of 2 packages, we only got rid of 7 muscles- pretty amazing if you ask us! Remember, we are first timers to making mussels ourselves!
6. Add the mussels to the delicious pot on the stove. Cook for 10 minutes. You don`t want to over cook your mussels or else they shrivel up and become hard.
7. Slice your baguette and fill your wine glasses with the leftover wine.
8. Transfer your mussels, broth, and veggies into bowls and top with freshly chopped parsley.
9. Place a baguette on the side.

And Bon Appétit!